The “Black Buddhism Plan”: Buddhism, Race, and Empire in the Early Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT This article traces the life of a single figure, Sufi Abdul Hamid, to bring into conversation the history of the transmission of Buddhism to the United States with the emergence of new Black religio-racial movements in the early twentieth century. It follows Hamid's activities in the 1930s to ask what Hamid's life reveals about the relationship between Buddhism and race in the United States. On the one hand, Hamid's own negotiation of his identity as a Black Orientalist illustrates the contentious process through which individuals negotiate their religio-racial identities in tension with hegemonic religio-racial frameworks. Hamid constructed a Black Orientalist identity that resignified Blackness while criticizing the racial injustice foundational to the American nation-state. His Black Orientalist identity at times resonated with global Orientalist discourses, even while being recalcitrant to the hegemonic religio-racial frameworks of white Orientalism. The subversive positioning of Hamid's Black Orientalist identity simultaneously lent itself to his racialization by others. This is illustrated through Hamid's posthumous implication in a conspiracy theory known as the “Black Buddhism Plan.” This theory drew on imaginations of a Black Pacific community formulated by both Black Americans and by government authorities who created Japanese Buddhists and new Black religio-racial movements as subjects of surveillance. The capacious nature of Hamid's religio-racial identity, on the one hand constructed and performed by Hamid himself, and on the other created in the shadow of the dominant discourses of a white racial state, demonstrates that Buddhism in the United States is always constituted by race.

Ultrarapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using a reverse transcription–free exponential amplification reaction, RTF-EXPAR

A rapid isothermal method for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, is reported. The procedure uses an unprecedented reverse transcription–free (RTF) approach for converting genomic RNA into DNA. This involves the formation of an RNA/DNA heteroduplex whose selective cleavage generates a short DNA trigger strand, which is then rapidly amplified using the exponential amplification reaction (EXPAR). Deploying the RNA-to-DNA conversion and amplification stages of the RTF-EXPAR assay in a single step results in the detection, via a fluorescence read-out, of single figure copy numbers per microliter of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in under 10 min. In direct three-way comparison studies, the assay has been found to be faster than both RT-qPCR and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), while being just as sensitive. The assay protocol involves the use of standard laboratory equipment and is readily adaptable for the detection of other RNA-based pathogens.

eQTpLot: a user-friendly R package for the visualization of colocalization between eQTL and GWAS signals

Background Genomic studies increasingly integrate expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) information into their analysis pipelines, but few tools exist for the visualization of colocalization between eQTL and GWAS results. Those tools that do exist are limited in their analysis options, and do not integrate eQTL and GWAS information into a single figure panel, making the visualization of colocalization difficult. Results To address this issue, we developed the intuitive and user-friendly R package eQTpLot. eQTpLot takes as input standard GWAS and cis-eQTL summary statistics, and optional pairwise LD information, to generate a series of plots visualizing colocalization, correlation, and enrichment between eQTL and GWAS signals for a given gene-trait pair. With eQTpLot, investigators can easily generate a series of customizable plots clearly illustrating, for a given gene-trait pair: 1) colocalization between GWAS and eQTL signals, 2) correlation between GWAS and eQTL p-values, 3) enrichment of eQTLs among trait-significant variants, 4) the LD landscape of the locus in question, and 5) the relationship between the direction of effect of eQTL signals and the direction of effect of colocalizing GWAS peaks. These clear and comprehensive plots provide a unique view of eQTL-GWAS colocalization, allowing for a more complete understanding of the interaction between gene expression and trait associations. Conclusions eQTpLot provides a unique, user-friendly, and intuitive means of visualizing eQTL and GWAS signal colocalization, incorporating novel features not found in other eQTL visualization software. We believe eQTpLot will prove a useful tool for investigators seeking a convenient and customizable visualization of eQTL and GWAS data colocalization. Availability and implementation the eQTpLot R package and tutorial are available at https://github.com/RitchieLab/eQTpLot

Evaluation of the Metrological Performance of a Handheld 3D Laser Scanner Using a Pseudo-3D Ball-Lattice Artifact

This paper proposes the use of a pseudo-3D ball-lattice artifact to characterize a handheld laser scanner from a metrological standpoint. The artifact allows the computation of local and global errors in measurement by using the reference-frame-independent parameters of size, form, and distance within the measuring volume of the scanner, and in a single point cloud, without the need for registration. A set of tests was performed using the whole measuring volume, and three acquisition parameters, namely the orientation of the sweeps during the scans, the exposure time, and the distance to the scanner were analyzed for their effects on the accuracy of the scan data. A composite error including the errors in measuring size, form, and distance was used as a single figure of merit to characterize the performance of the scanner in relation to the data-acquisition parameters. The orientation of sweeps did not have a considerable effect on the errors. The accuracy of the scan data was strongly affected by exposure time and its interaction with the distance at which the artifact was scanned. The errors followed a quadratic trend with respect to the distance of the artifact to the scanner. The tested scanner performed best at its manufacturer’s recommended stand-off distance.

Continuous in-home walking speed monitoring in older people with a low-cost ambient sensor: Results of a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Walking speed predicts important clinical outcomes in older adults and is one of the most significant indicators of frailty. OBJECTIVE: To test whether it is feasible to measure walking speed frequently and unobtrusively in the home. METHODS: A longitudinal feasibility study was conducted comprising the installation and monitoring of continuous measurement walking speed sensors in twenty frail older adults’ homes for a period of twelve weeks (eighteen participants completed the study). Manual walking speed, frailty level and health status were measured at four-weekly intervals. Qualitative interviews were conducted at the end of the study to assess participants’ attitudes to the sensors and to the concept of continuous in-home walking speed measurement. RESULTS: There was a high degree of variance to the number of walking speed measurements recorded by each participant’s sensor (median 1942.39, range 2-3617). Participants indicated acceptability of both the sensor within the home and the concept of in-home walking speed measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Where regular measurement was achieved, the results indicate that walking speed might be better viewed as a distribution rather than a single figure, taking into account the natural variation to walking speed in daily life. This study demonstrates the feasibility of continuous ambient in-home walking speed monitoring of older adults with a low-cost, easily deployed device.

NGO responses to financial evaluation: auditability, purification and performance

PurposeLiterature has widely studied the financial accountability pressures on NGOs but rarely analysed how NGOs respond to them. This paper studies one large humanitarian NGO to address this question. It investigates the NGO's responses to understand the extent to which NGOs are able to regain control over their own work and turn the frames of evaluation and accountability to their own advantage.Design/methodology/approachThis article draws on a case study of one of the largest French humanitarian NGOs. Interviews and observation (both participant and non-participant) were conducted in the financial department of the NGO. These data are supplemented with field-level contextual interviews.FindingsIn the NGO studied, institutional pressure is largely mediated by compliance audits. The paper thus traces the consequences of compliance audits for the NGO's central finance teams and describes how they respond. The findings detail three responses to evaluation. First, to respond to the burden of evaluation, the organisation makes itself auditable and develops preparedness. Second, to respond to the anxiety of evaluation, the organisation engages in a process of purification and succumbs to the allure of the single figure. Third, building on its newly acquired auditability and purity, the organisation performs itself as a “corporatised NGO”. Together, these three responses constitute the NGO as an “entrepreneur” competing for eligibility, and financial literacy and managerialism become crucial to respond to pressure from institutional funders.Originality/valueThis paper extends the understanding of organisational responses to evaluation. The authors show the influence of evaluation systems on NGOs, but also how NGOs can react to regain control over their work and turn the frames of evaluation and accountability to their own advantage. However, despite several decades of calls for broader conceptions of NGO accountability, the case NGO prefers to promote a very narrow view of its performance, based solely on accounting compliance. It takes some pride in its ability to comply with funders' and auditors' demands. Turning a simple matter of compliance into a display of good performance, it builds a strategy and competitive advantage on its ability to respond competently to evaluation.

José Emilio Pacheco: lector y antólogo del modernismo

José Emilio Pacheco (1939-2014) devoted part of his essay production to reconstruct the past of letters and, in particular, was interested in the Modernist movement. From two anthological texts: Anthology of Modernism [1884-1921] (1970) and Modernist Poetry. A General Anthology (1982), and a selection of journalistic notes that he published in the Mexican magazine Proceso, Pacheco aimed at broadening the spectrum of Modernist figures and avoiding to keep to a single figure, such as that of the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío. This article reconstructs the dialogues and reciprocities that José Emilio Pacheco traces with the literary tradition of Modernism and that are sustained, on the one hand, in connections between poets, as it is the case of Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera and José Martí and, on the other hand, in the recovering of poets less well-known by literary criticism, such as Salvador Díaz Mirón.

The Oxford Handbook of Reformed Theology

Reformed theology remains one of the most vibrant fields of discussion in the study of Christian faith and practice. This volume looks back to past resources that have informed Reformed theology, and surveys present conversations among those engaged in Reformed theology today. First, the volume offers accounts of the major historical contexts of Reformed theology, the various relationships (ancient and modern) which it maintains and from which it derives. Recent research has shown the intricate ties between the patristic and medieval heritage of the church and the work of the Reformed movement in the sixteenth century. The past century has also witnessed an explosion of Reformed theology outside the Western world, prompting a need for attention not only to these global voices but also to the unique (and contingent) history of Reformed theology in the West (hence reflecting on its relationship to intellectual developments like scholastic method or the critical approaches of modern biblical studies). Second, the volume assesses some of the classic, representative texts of the Reformed tradition, observing also their reception history. The Reformed movement is not dominated by a single figure, but it does contain a host of paradigmatic texts that demonstrate the range and vitality of Reformed thought on politics, piety, biblical commentary, dogmatic reflection, and social engagement. Third, the volume turns to key doctrines and topics that continue to receive attention by Reformed theologians today. Contributors who are themselves making cutting-edge contributions to constructive theology today reflect on the state of the question, and offer their own proposals regarding a host of doctrinal topics and themes.

Children's images in the works of Pyotr Dik

Pyotr Dik's graphics are well known in the professional community and are kept in the collections of leading Russian museums, but it is difficult to consider Dik's works fully studied. Compositions containing figurative images that can be interpreted as children's images are common among the artist works of the mature period. However, no separate works have been found on the theme of childhood in the master's work. The purpose of this article is to study children's images from a formal and meaningful point of view. This work uses elements of formal stylistic, iconological, and cultural-historical analyses as methods of studying the topic. The specificity of Dick's artistic method was that the artist did not set itself the task of a detailed study of nature and the reflection of its unique properties on the sheet, but used visual impressions to build his own plastic system, characterized by a recognizable language of conditional geometrized figures. Pyotr Dik addressed children's images in the framework of single-figure, two-figure and group compositions. Single-figure compositions have a meaningful connection with the problem of childhood loneliness, although in some cases they can be a visual metaphor for childhood as a special spiritual state. One of the characteristic motifs of two-figure compositions is the motif of interaction between a child and an adult (especially interesting in this type of composition with images of elderly people). Group compositions containing children's images, in some cases, are associated with the theme of teaching in the broad sense of the word. The artist may have tried to operate with complex categories of a philosophical order, as well as to explore the problem of kinship and alienation through his own system of figurative motives. Графика Петра Дика хорошо известна в профессиональной среде и хранится в собраниях ведущих российских музеев, однако трудно считать наследие Дика полностью изученным. Среди работ художника зрелого периода распространены композиции, содержащие фигуративные изображения, которые можно интерпретировать как детские образы. Однако к настоящему моменту не было обнаружено отдельных работ, посвященных теме детства в творчестве мастера. Целью этой статьи является изучение детских образов с формальной и содержательной точек зрения. В качестве методов изучения темы в данной работе применяются элементы формально-стилистического, иконологического и культурно-исторического анализов. Специфика художественного метода Дика заключалась в том, что график не ставил перед собой задачи детального исследования натуры и отражения ее уникальных свойств на листе, а использовал визуальные впечатления для построения собственной пластической системы, отличающейся узнаваемым языком условных геометризированных фигур. Петр Дик обращался к детским образам в рамках однофигурных, двухфигурных и групповых композиций. Однофигурные композиции содержательно соприкасаются с проблемой детского одиночества, хотя в отдельных случаях могут быть визуальной метафорой детства как особенного духовного состояния. Одним из характерных мотивов двухфигурных композиций стал мотив взаимодействия ребенка и взрослого (особенно интересны в рамках данного типа композиции с образами пожилых людей). Групповые композиции, содержащие детские образы, в некоторых случаях связаны с темой учительства в широком смысле слова. Через собственную систему фигуративных мотивов художник, возможно, пытался оперировать сложными категориями философского порядка, а также исследовать проблему родства и отчуждения.